The Texas Legislature has just passed the 60-day mark and has 80 days to go.
The deadline for filing bills has just passed, and things are now going to get interesting…
Parental Rights are at the forefront of the public and, therefore, Texas lawmakers.
That has been evidenced by the number of bills and constitutional amendments filed in the current Texas Legislative Session.
Let me give you a sampling:
State Representative James Frank has filed:
- HB 635 Parental Rights Advance Notice which would require the state of Texas to notify parents of their rights prior to the beginning of any CPS investigation of abuse or neglect. An outstanding bill that will do much to protect innocent families and children.
- HB 730: DFPS Investigation and Removal Improvements
This is a package of several needed Improvements to DFPS’s procedures for investigating and removing children from parents. Current practice all too often disenfranchises families and ensnares them in the foster state system with no path to normalcy. - HB 4339, HB 4340, HB 5261, and HB 5267: Parental Choice in Education
These bills will put parents in the driver’s seat of their child’s education by letting parents take their child’s education dollars to the education providers of their choosing. Parental choice in education will greatly benefit parents, children, teachers, schools, and communities. Each of the bills achieves parental choice in education in slightly different ways. Of note: HB 5261 is the companion bill to Senate Bill 8, one of the 30 bills the Lieutenant Governor has designated a priority bill. - HJR 85: Parental Rights Constitutional Amendment
By codifying existing case law, parents’ fundamental right to make decisions surrounding their children are protected.
Senator Angela Paxton has filed:
- SB 718 protects a fundamental parental right of being able to spend time with your child. This bill remedies and prevents injustice against parents who face unfounded allegations during a custody battle. If a parent is found to have been falsely accused of neglect, this bill requires judges to grant the parent the custody time they missed out on because of the false allegations.
- SB 418: Open transfer between school districts
- SB 419: Parental access to school library catalogs
- SB 420: Access to the list of books their child checks out at school
- SB 981: Parental Rights Handbook
- SB 982: Parental access to school curriculum
- SB 2483: Educational freedom through an Education Savings Account
- SJR 29: Parental Bill of Rights Constitutional Amendment
State Representative Dustin Burrows has filed:
- HJR 85 a constitutional amendment protecting the fundamental right of parents to raise their children.
State Senator Brian Hughes has filed:
- SJR 70, proposing a constitutional amendment protecting the fundamental right of parents to raise their children
State Representative Cody Vasut has filed:
- HJR 37, proposing a constitutional amendment protecting private schools from state and local regulation
- HJR 38, proposing a constitutional amendment establishing the rights of parents to direct the upbringing of their children.
State Senator Phil King has filed:
- SJR 72, proposing a constitutional amendment protecting private schools from state and local regulation.
Senator Mayes Middleton has filed:
- SB 1504, relating to the automatic admission of students with a nontraditional secondary education (homeschool graduates) to certain public institutions of higher education
- SB 176, relating to the establishment of the Texas Parental Empowerment Program and an insurance premium tax credit for contributions made for purposes of that program.
These bills show that there is a huge push to protect children and families by empowering parents and their God-given right to raise their children as they see fit… and this is just a sampling of the bills that have been filed!
We are following these and other bills and will keep you up to date with developments.
Things are looking up for parents as more and more people are mobilized to protect families.
Tim Lambert, THSC President
Tim Lambert, has been the president of the Texas Home School Coalition since 1990 and involved in homeschool leadership since 1984. He and his wife Lyndsay taught their four now-grown children at home for 16 years, graduating the last two in 2000. As the head of the organization for the leading home school state in the country, he is recognized as an authority on home education issues.
Tim has testified before numerous Texas legislative committees on issues related to homeschooling and often deals with state government agencies, including the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. He has also addressed such conferences as the Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers on the topic. He holds a B.A. in political science from Texas Tech University and is active in the political arena, serving eight years as Republican National Committeeman for Texas. Tim is committed to serving the homeschooling community and to protecting parents’ right to choose the method of education of their children.
The Texas Legislature has just passed the 60-day mark and has 80 days to go.
The deadline for filing bills has just passed, and things are now going to get interesting…
Parental Rights are at the forefront of the public and, therefore, Texas lawmakers.
That has been evidenced by the number of bills and constitutional amendments filed in the current Texas Legislative Session.
Let me give you a sampling:
State Representative James Frank has filed:
- HB 635 Parental Rights Advance Notice which would require the state of Texas to notify parents of their rights prior to the beginning of any CPS investigation of abuse or neglect. An outstanding bill that will do much to protect innocent families and children.
- HB 730: DFPS Investigation and Removal Improvements
This is a package of several needed Improvements to DFPS’s procedures for investigating and removing children from parents. Current practice all too often disenfranchises families and ensnares them in the foster state system with no path to normalcy. - HB 4339, HB 4340, HB 5261, and HB 5267: Parental Choice in Education
These bills will put parents in the driver’s seat of their child’s education by letting parents take their child’s education dollars to the education providers of their choosing. Parental choice in education will greatly benefit parents, children, teachers, schools, and communities. Each of the bills achieves parental choice in education in slightly different ways. Of note: HB 5261 is the companion bill to Senate Bill 8, one of the 30 bills the Lieutenant Governor has designated a priority bill. - HJR 85: Parental Rights Constitutional Amendment
By codifying existing case law, parents’ fundamental right to make decisions surrounding their children are protected.
Senator Angela Paxton has filed:
- SB 718 protects a fundamental parental right of being able to spend time with your child. This bill remedies and prevents injustice against parents who face unfounded allegations during a custody battle. If a parent is found to have been falsely accused of neglect, this bill requires judges to grant the parent the custody time they missed out on because of the false allegations.
- SB 418: Open transfer between school districts
- SB 419: Parental access to school library catalogs
- SB 420: Access to the list of books their child checks out at school
- SB 981: Parental Rights Handbook
- SB 982: Parental access to school curriculum
- SB 2483: Educational freedom through an Education Savings Account
- SJR 29: Parental Bill of Rights Constitutional Amendment
State Representative Dustin Burrows has filed:
- HJR 85 a constitutional amendment protecting the fundamental right of parents to raise their children.
State Senator Brian Hughes has filed:
- SJR 70, proposing a constitutional amendment protecting the fundamental right of parents to raise their children
State Representative Cody Vasut has filed:
- HJR 37, proposing a constitutional amendment protecting private schools from state and local regulation
- HJR 38, proposing a constitutional amendment establishing the rights of parents to direct the upbringing of their children.
State Senator Phil King has filed:
- SJR 72, proposing a constitutional amendment protecting private schools from state and local regulation.
Senator Mayes Middleton has filed:
- SB 1504, relating to the automatic admission of students with a nontraditional secondary education (homeschool graduates) to certain public institutions of higher education
- SB 176, relating to the establishment of the Texas Parental Empowerment Program and an insurance premium tax credit for contributions made for purposes of that program.
These bills show that there is a huge push to protect children and families by empowering parents and their God-given right to raise their children as they see fit… and this is just a sampling of the bills that have been filed!
We are following these and other bills and will keep you up to date with developments.
Things are looking up for parents as more and more people are mobilized to protect families.
Tim Lambert, THSC President
Tim Lambert, has been the president of the Texas Home School Coalition since 1990 and involved in homeschool leadership since 1984. He and his wife Lyndsay taught their four now-grown children at home for 16 years, graduating the last two in 2000. As the head of the organization for the leading home school state in the country, he is recognized as an authority on home education issues.
Tim has testified before numerous Texas legislative committees on issues related to homeschooling and often deals with state government agencies, including the Texas Education Agency and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. He has also addressed such conferences as the Texas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers on the topic. He holds a B.A. in political science from Texas Tech University and is active in the political arena, serving eight years as Republican National Committeeman for Texas. Tim is committed to serving the homeschooling community and to protecting parents’ right to choose the method of education of their children.
